Pearl
by the River :
Nawab Wajid Ali Shah’s Kingdom in exile
(Rupa Publication India )
History had never been kind to Wajid Ali
Shah. It is difficult to decipher the real man from all that has been written
about him. The prying of a superior power forced him to relinquish his crown
and prudence urged him to accept his destiny. Yet, his heart refused to settle
down in a dull life of blankness. In the misery of banishment, the King tried
to paint subtle impressions of life in the style he had nurtured all through
his life. It was with his keenness that the archetypical mannerism of Lucknowi
sensibilities was implanted in the hearts of the Bengali intelligentsia.
A new style of dance,
drama, poetry, cuisine, etiquette, music and melody was impregnated into
Calcutta and continues to exist even today, deeply entrenched into the city’s culture. The long chronicles of pathos and
romance that could be heard from his mausoleum can fill endless volumes. Notwithstanding
the British conspiracy to obliterate all traces of Awadh royalty from Calcutta
and to annihilate the last chance of insurrection against the colonial power,
Wajid Ali Shah successfully left his indelible footprint on the sands of time.
Today, Wajid Ali Shah’s Metiyaburj is lost in the dingy alleyways,
stinking sewerage, dump yards, hyacinth-choked ponds and feculent riverbanks.
It is sad to note that very few Calcuttans today, are aware that Wajid Ali Shah
lived almost half of his life in the city. His concluding days in this colonial
capital remain unknown even to the people of his native town. Only the
inconspicuous Sibtainabad Imambara with seventeen odd graves of the Royal
family and few dilapidated holy places in Metiyaburj can dredge up the memories
of the deposed king in Calcutta. Yet unknowingly, the mesmerizing spell and enthrall
of the Badshah’s momentous labour of
love remains entwined even today in every skein of the Bengalis’ cultural life.
Only the propounder remains an unknown entity.
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ENJOY READING...........
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